Astros ride Lucas Spence’s explosion into rematch vs. A’s

Rookie Lucas Spence hit his first three career major league home runs to lead the Houston Astros to a 7-5 victory over the Athletics on Thursday night in West Sacramento. Spence drove in five runs to keep Houston tied for first place with the Texas Rangers in the American League West at 79-80. The Astros face the Athletics again on Friday night in the second game of a four-game series.

Spence became only the third player in MLB history to hit his first three career home runs in a single game. Isaac Paredes and Christian Walker also hit solo homers for Houston, while Zack Gelof hit two home runs and Jeff McNeil added a three-run blast for the Athletics. Left-hander Jacob Lopez is scheduled to start for the Athletics on Friday against Houston right-hander Hunter Brown.